The WORST episodes of Early Edition

Every episode of Early Edition ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Early Edition!

Gary Hobson was a regular Chicago stockbroker. One day his wife dumped him and he was forced to move into a hotel room. The next morning, at 6:30 am, a mysterious yellow cat showed up at his front door with tomorrow's edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. From that day on his life was never the same. At first skeptical, Gary started to try saving people's lives and stop disasters from happening. With the help of his friends Chuck and Marissa, Gary became a man with a mission, even though he doesn't know why or how the paper gets to him every morning.

Last Updated: 12/22/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
Luck o' the Irish
star
6.78
80 votes

#1 - Luck o' the Irish

Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/27/2000

A young Irish woman loses her chance at a million dollar lottery when Gary swipes her dollar that she was going to buy the winning ticket with. To repay her he ends up caught up in a wild scheme that has them pretending to be engaged while Kate looks for a man she loves.

Directors: Gary Nelson
Writer: Sean Clark
Watch Now:Amazon
Hoops (a.k.a. Hoop Dreams)
star
7.07
173 votes

#2 - Hoops (a.k.a. Hoop Dreams)

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1996

Michael Williams, one of the biggest high school basketball stars, has a heart condition that may cost him his life. Gary tries to convince him not to play, but his coach keeps pushing him to do so. He and Marissa visit Michael's neighborhood, where Marissa grew up. They appeal to Connie Hooks, one of Marissa's old friends and also the Michael Williams of their time.

Directors: Rick Rosenthal
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon
Baby
star
7.15
202 votes

#3 - Baby

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1996

Gary helps Chuck deliver twins in an elevator after Chicago has a blackout due to Gary's inability to stop street workers to keep a water pump turned off. Meanwhile, Gary keeps chasing for a mysterious blonde woman while his ex-wife attempts to get back together.

Directors: Randy Zisk
Watch Now:Amazon
Mob Wife
star
7.22
155 votes

#4 - Mob Wife

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/25/1997

Gary and Chuck save a gangster's ex-fiancee from being shot, which gets them into hot water with the mob.

Directors: Rick Rosenthal
Watch Now:Amazon
His Girl Thursday
star
7.24
138 votes

#5 - His Girl Thursday

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/1996

Meredith returns to create a second chance with Gary, and he is presented with a choice to throw away the paper and follow love, or give up the girl and continue saving lives.

Directors: Stephen Cragg
Writer: Jeff Melvoin
Watch Now:Amazon
Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog
star
7.29
121 votes

#6 - Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1996

Gary has to stop the mayor's dog from being kidnapped. The kidnapper turns out to be Chuck's uncle, who was trying to get back at the mayor after a public truck ran over his dog. Phil says he'll only stop after he gets a written apology from the mayor. All Gary gets is an autograph.

Directors: Susan Seidelman
Watch Now:Amazon
Rose
star
7.33
75 votes

#7 - Rose

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/19/2000

Although Crumb cautions Gary that Rose may appear sweet and innocent but is probably trouble, Gary ignores his warning, even when evidence surfaces that she has a criminal record. When he believes her explanation that an old boyfriend is after her, Gary agrees to loan Rose $25,000 to get rid of him and is stunned when she suddenly runs off with his money.

Directors: Julia Rask
Watch Now:Amazon
Number One with a Bullet
star
7.34
106 votes

#8 - Number One with a Bullet

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/20/1999

Marissa's old friend, Julius aka C-Roc, is in town for a cd signing and Gary has to prevent him from being killed.

Directors: David Petrarca
Writer: Attica Locke
Watch Now:Amazon
Wild Card
star
7.36
105 votes

#9 - Wild Card

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/1999

While struggling to find a way to tell his boss that he's leaving McGinty's for good, Patrick thoroughly frustrates Gary by following him around all day and triggering a host of potential disasters. When Patrick's actions culminate in an explosion at a Halloween rave party, Gary instructs him not to move a muscle - a directive that backfires when Patrick attempts to help and winds up in a life-threatening situation.

Directors: Kevin Dowling
Watch Now:Amazon
The Paper
star
7.41
186 votes

#10 - The Paper

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1996

Gary is invited to the office of the Sun-Times, and he falls for one of the paper's star reporters.

Directors: Michael Nankin
Watch Now:Amazon
Crumb Again
star
7.42
106 votes

#11 - Crumb Again

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/3/1999

Crumb is about to publish a manuscript about police corruption in Chicago, when he becomes the target of someone who doesn't want the book to come out. Gary and Crumb then narrowly escape a drive-by shooting, and Federal Agent Brigatti, who recently transferred to the Chicago detective squad, takes on the case and attempts to track down Crumb's potential killer.

Directors: Mel Damski
Writer: Sean Clark
Watch Now:Amazon
Two to Tangle
star
7.42
104 votes

#12 - Two to Tangle

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/27/1999

A couple is fighting with each other over their lingerie company, and Henry befriends their daughter.

Directors: James Quinn
Watch Now:Amazon
Blind Faith
star
7.45
76 votes

#13 - Blind Faith

Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/22/2000

Gary loses his sight while he is trying to prevent three teens from being blown up by an old cannon ball. While at the hospital, Gary meets a yong kid named Nate Calvin, whose mother is ill. The next day, without being able to see, Gary must save Nate Calvin, who is trapped in an abandoned building.

Directors: James Quinn
Writer: Jeff Pinkner
Watch Now:Amazon
Halloween
star
7.46
108 votes

#14 - Halloween

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/1998

Gary is abducted by two witches that he saved from a fire. The witches believe that Gary is a warlock, and that Gary can help them free their sister who has been locked up for close to 200 years.

Directors: Gary Nelson
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon
The Wrong Man
star
7.46
108 votes

#15 - The Wrong Man

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/1996

Gary's ex-wife Marcia tells him she is getting married, and Gary finds out the groom is his old boss Pritchard.

Directors: David Jones
Writer: Alex Taub
Watch Now:Amazon
After Midnight
star
7.47
170 votes

#16 - After Midnight

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1996

Gary has to stop a 17 year-old single mother from abandoning her child. But as always, Gary gets more involved with her than he should, and finds out she left home pregnant and now works for a drug dealer. Meanwhile, Chuck uses the paper to get a date with an attractive woman he had to share a cab with.

Watch Now:Amazon
Slippity-Doo-Dah
star
7.50
104 votes

#17 - Slippity-Doo-Dah

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/9/1999

Gary catches a snake that was going to bite a bingo player who faints and knocks her head. However, she's incapable of her next doings: babysitting Henry. Gary takes over, but Marissa warns him that he can't handle both the paper and Henry. While babysitting for Henry, Gary's intervention with one accident sets off a chain reaction of accidents.

Directors: Fisher Stevens
Watch Now:Amazon
Teen Angels
star
7.51
106 votes

#18 - Teen Angels

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/19/1998

Gary is mistaken for a substitute teacher while attempting to stop a high school shooting.

Directors: James Quinn
Writer: Laura Doyle
Watch Now:Amazon
Gifted
star
7.51
80 votes

#19 - Gifted

Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/4/2000

After saving a playmate of Nikki's and then preventing her from being injured in a school bus accident, Gary meets the tough-talking 13-year-old and learns that she also knew about the accidents before they almost happened. While most would consider Nikki's clairvoyance to be a gift, she is racked with guilt because she was unable to save her own parents from dying in a car crash three years earlier -- an event Gary also failed to stop.

Directors: Kevin Dowling
Watch Now:Amazon
Up Chuck
star
7.52
107 votes

#20 - Up Chuck

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/7/1998

A surprise visit from Chuck makes Gary suspect an ulterior motive.

Directors: David Grossman
Writer: Alex Taub
Watch Now:Amazon
Play It Again Sammo
star
7.55
77 votes

#21 - Play It Again Sammo

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/8/1999

Gary does his usual routine to help others, and finds himself involved with the robbery of an ancient Chinese helmet that was stolen from LA. Detective Sammo Law from the Los Angeles police department is in Chicago looking for the missing helmet. After investigating Gary's involvement with the case, Sammo and Gary find out Gary accidentally bought the helmet as a piece of an art decoration object. Unfortunately the helmet is stolen again, forcing Sammo and Gary to team up to get it back, while trying to stop the man who stole it and his niece from being murdered by international smugglers who want the helmet.

Directors: Gary Nelson
Writer: Sean Clark
Watch Now:Amazon
Frostbit
star
7.61
157 votes

#22 - Frostbit

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/11/1997

On a 20-below-zero day in Chicago, Gary encounters a homeless child who asks him for money on several occasions. Gary tells the boy off, but then finds a headline saying that the child freezes to death inside a building. Meanwhile, Chuck moves in with Gary after the heat goes out in his house.

Directors: Lee Bonner
Watch Now:Amazon
In Gary We Trust
star
7.62
138 votes

#23 - In Gary We Trust

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/21/1998

Gary is in danger after preventing a spa worker from being shot in the sauna. Turns out that the people who were going to kill him are mobsters and the spa worker is actually an FBI agent working on a case to bring the mobsters down.

Directors: Ian Barry
Watch Now:Amazon
Bat Masterson
star
7.63
91 votes

#24 - Bat Masterson

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/22/1997

While attempting to save a life in Millennium Park, a lawman on horseback charges into the scene, claiming to be the fictional character Bat Masterson.

Directors: Rick Wallace
Writer: Dusty Kay
Watch Now:Amazon
The Wall (1)
star
7.63
154 votes

#25 - The Wall (1)

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/1/1997

Morris from Chicago Sun-Times finds a box in the name of Lucius Snow, giving Gary another lead to the origin of the paper. Meanwhile, Gary finds a headline that the President of the United States will be murdered in Chicago... by Gary Hobson.

Directors: Michael Dinner
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon